wild garter snake rehab in Oregon

[dune rider rem]

So we have this wild garter snake who usually lives in my raspberry bed, we have named him tails. Because in years past he has lost his tail and has a nub now.

Tails last week got injured by a dog, normally I would just let nature take its course, but the keeps ending up out in the yard and I've almost stepped on him. I have returned him to the raspberries several times, but I have noticed that he isn't moving the back half of his body past his injury. He seems to be dragging it. Though he moves behind his injury VERY VERY slowly away if you touch him. In front of his injury he is very active moving his head and tongue even striking at you if you get too close.

afraid that he's going to get injured again I have moved them into a tank in the house in a quite corner, until he recovers, and moves more quickly. I would like to get him back to protecting my raspberries ASAP.
We have water and a reptile heat rock in his tank. Is there anything else I can do to help him? Without taking him to a vet. And should I try to feed him crickets, or something else? Or I hate to ask it but, does this not seem like somethin he can recover from? Any advice in helping tails to recovery would be appreciated! Thanks!

[guidofatherof5]

NO Crickets in a garter diet. Night crawlers would be best at this time. Be careful of the heat rock as older models can be way to hot. Give a big enough water dish for the snake to soak in. I'll supply a link to the care sheet. Any visible open wounds or swollen areas?
Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet

[d_virginiana]

Can you post a picture of him and the setup?

If he's moving behind the injury it may improve, but it may also be permanent paralysis. No way to tell. Is the injury above or below the vent?
Also, if you're maybe looking at paralysis it's important to know if he can pass urates and poo properly. If you don't already, using paper towels or newspaper as bedding makes it easier to monitor this. It sometimes gets kind of lost in fluffier or natural bedding.

[joeysgreen]

In all honesty, if that's all you have to offer, he's better off in the yard to either recover or die in the wild, likely feeding a predator. Or you prolong a likely agonizing death in a stress box. I understand you have the best intentions, but either intervene fully to increase it's odd's of surviving, or let it be. And yes, I'm going to get ribbed for suggesting going above what is often done.. but as the thread title suggests, take it to a wildlife rehabilitator who can do more.


Ian

[d_virginiana]

No one is going to rib you for giving good, cost-free advice to someone who might have time to use it and follow it. Since this snake has apparently been surviving like this awhile, I doubt it will drop dead overnight like the anole in that last thread.

I agree to some degree with Joey. A vet visit or rehabber would give this guy the best chance for survival, and rehabbers will usually return the animal to you if you caught the animal on your property so it can be released there. If for whatever reason you can't do that, you're probably going to have to put a lot of effort into keeping this guy alive. I thif you definitely don't want to do that and perhaps have to keep him as a pet if he's permanently disabled I would recommend considering euthanasia (if that's your decision we can walk you through the options).

Can you post a video of him moving or upload one to youtube and post the link? That will give us a much better idea of what the outlook here is.

[d_virginiana]

No one is going to rib you for giving good, cost-free advice to someone who might have time to use it and follow it. Since this snake has apparently been surviving like this awhile, I doubt it will drop dead overnight like the anole in that last thread.

I agree to some degree with Joey. A vet visit or rehabber would give this guy the best chance for survival, and rehabbers will usually return the animal to you if you caught the animal on your property so it can be released there. If for whatever reason you can't do that, you're probably going to have to put a lot of effort into keeping this guy alive. If you definitely don't want to do that and perhaps have to keep him as a pet if he's permanently disabled I would recommend considering euthanasia (if that's your decision we can walk you through the options).

Can you post a video of him moving or upload one to youtube and post the link? That will give us a much better idea of what the outlook here is.

[d_virginiana]

Well, that posted twice...

[dune rider rem]

Thank you for all your help.
tails is still with us, but I begining to think he is never going to fully recover... I am trying to find a center or some who can better take care of him then me, but no one I have talked to so far wants to take on a wild injured snake.... If you know of any in Oregon, please pass along that info...

On a good note he is moving ever so slowly arond our make sift enclosure mildly better than he was outside ...

And I read threw the care part of this forum ... It was very insightful. We have offered him nightcrawers and small crawler bits, but he hasn't ate any that we know of but he has been in the water dish a few times with his body.

And his injuries are above his vent. And we have him on news paper but have not noticed any pee...

Also I'd like to apologize for not knowing much about snakes... I've never had one as a pet. I just like animals and disliked seeing him suffer, bringing him in to the house was a decision I didn't take lightly.. I knew it would add to his stress... But I was hoping a few days with warmth and no predators would help this situation...

I will try to post a video or a photo

Thanks again

[dune rider rem]

photo of tails injury

[d_virginiana]

Firstly, looks like you probably have a 'she' instead of a 'he' IMO.

Snake 'pee' doesn't look like urine. Their equivalent is called urates and it looks like a white crust when it dries; kind of like bird poo.

Can she move the area below the injury at all, or is it completely non-responsive?

I am trying to find a center or some who can better take care of him then me, but no one I have talked to so far wants to take on a wild injured snake....

Many places won't take on something as common as a garter, especially when it doesn't look like it will be able to go back to the wild, and most I've seen seem to focus on mammals and birds.